| What
is kitsch? What is behind its appeal? More important, what is wrong
with kitsch? Though central to our modern and postmodern culture,
kitsch has not been seriously and comprehensively analyzed; its aesthetic
worthlessness has been generally assumed but seldom explained. Kitsch
and Art seeks to give this phenomenon its due by exploring the
basis of artistic evaluation and aesthetic value judgments.
Tomas Kulka examines kitsch in the visual arts, literature, music,
and architecture.To distinguish kitsch from art, Kulka proposes
that kitsch depicts instantly identifiable, emotionally charged
objects or themes, but that it does not substantially enrich our
associations relating to the depicted objects or themes. He then
addresses the deceptive nature of kitsch by examining the makeup
of its artistic and aesthetic worthlessness. Ultimately Kulka argues
that the mass appeal of kitsch cannot be regarded as aesthetic appeal,
but that its analysis can illuminate the nature of art appreciation. |
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